Readers of some of my other posts expressing a certain skepticism about the value of statistical analysis might be surprised to learn that when it comes to baseball, I'm a devoted "seamhead" -- one of those technically inclined fans who thinks that quantitative analysis is the best way to figure out what works and what doesn't in the game. In particular, I am of the opinion that one can only evaluate truly impressive performances through quantitative analysis; while I might disagree with Bill's claim that Pedro Martinez is the best pitcher ever, I certainly can't fault his logic…although I...

I get mad about Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" and its ilk for a whole host of reasons, but chief among them is how they represent a perversion of national priorities and needs. The US has compelling reasons to spend money improving and expanding its transportation infrastructure, much of which is out of date, not in the best of shape, and inadequate for future economic needs.But we all know that, for the US government, transportation appropriations are the equivalent of trips to Billy Bob''s Pork-O-Rama BBQ and Ribs.The solution seems obvious to me (so obvious that I'm sure it has occurred to...

... is a local community's big, fat welfare check from the American taxpayer. My favorite part of the wire story?Jack Shay, a member of the Ketchikan Borough Assembly who proposed the renaming the airport after Young, said he would have no problem deferring the funds for a year if the money is instead used on Gulf Coast projects.But he disagrees with opponents who say the bridge is a boondoggle."We've only been a state relatively short time, so we're way behind the other states," Shay said. "Don Young has been a great help catching us up with other states."More substantive posts...

And now, a phrase I never thought that I would write: "I agree with Charles Krauthammer.". . . the Supreme Court is an elite institution. It is not one of the "popular" branches of government. That is the reason Sen. Roman Hruska achieved such unsought immortality when he declared, in support of an undistinguished Nixon nominee to the court, that, yes, G. Harrold Carswell is a mediocrity but mediocre Americans deserve representation on the court as well.To serve in Congress, or even as president, there is no requirement for scholarship and brilliance. For good reason. It is not needed. . . ....

I spent most of yesterday reading through a great many scholarly articles on the influence, or lack thereof, of "norms" on outcomes in international politics. Discussion of international norms - where they come from, how they spread, who adopts them and why, how they change over time, and so forth - are a prominent aspect of the constructivist research program in the discipline of International Relations.The broader debate about the relative importance of norms in world politics is, in fact, hugely consequential to a wide variety of policy issues, including the merits of Bush foreign policy,...

Why does Coke Light taste so much better than Diet Coke?Actually, a wealth of information at the wikipedia, which suggests reasons why I prefer Diet Coke with Splenda to Diet Coke, but prefer Coke Zero to both.Filed as: Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Light, Of Paradise and Power

This started out as a comment on Rodger's post, but quickly got too long for that and so I converted it into a stand-alone post.Rodger's probably right about the actual use of the term "critical constrctivism" in the discipline these days; truth to tell I haven't been paying much attention to those labels, being more concerned with labels like "realist" and "rationalist" because of the realism-constructivism project in which Dan and I are engaged. So, I'll stand with Rodger: critical constructivism doesn't just mean post-structuralism in the current common linguistic practice of the IR...

One of the more venerable theories of social unrest focuses on a process of rising expectations and relative deprivation. The basic argument is that individuals and groups won't resist their conditions if they have grown accustomed to them; people in conditions of abject deprivation, so the theory goes, don't see much point in trying to change them. In contrast, when they expect their conditions to improve, but those expectations are thwarted, people are more likely to collectively mobilize for change. Statistical variants of the theory focus on what's called the "J-curve": riots,...